A NORTH Korean innkeeper in her early 50s has reportedly been arrested for bribing local officials in order to defy coronavirus prevention rules.

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The innkeeper reportedly bribed the officials to ensure that her establishment did not become a facility to house suspected COVID-19 patients. After speaking to a North Hamgyong Province-based source on May 11, Daily NK reports have claimed a large number of suspected cases of COVID-19 had occurred in the province since February.

The woman’s actions were made more widely known after the head of the inn’s party cell submitted a petition to the provincial party office (Image: GETTY)

After receiving the petition, the provincial party office carried out an “intensive investigation” of the inn’s owner (Image: GETTY)

“When a covered truck shows up to take a person into custody, it means the arrest is not an ordinary one.

"She seems to have been deemed a political criminal.”

According to the source, the scandal is likely to escalate further.

The source claims that local party officials will be held responsible for taking bribes from the woman.

North Korea is reportedly battling multiple outbreaks, with sources claiming African Swine Fever (ASF) has caused mass deaths of pigs at farms in the South Hwanghae Province and North Hamgyong Province.

The North Korean government has now had to act fast to prevent further outbreaks, Daily NK reported.

Reports began to circulate last week that some 6,000 ducks, geese, pigs, goats and sheep had died of infectious diseases at a livestock complex in Kangwon Province.